Many Carleton students study abroad, but not many make an emotional return to a parent’s homeland. Sophomore Stephanie Mayer (Chicago), who spent more than two months in Cambodia last summer volunteering, definitely found an alternative kind of learning experience.

Over winter break eight students will travel to the hub of the jazz world with Professor Stephen Kelly, Carleton’s Dye Family Professor of Music. Those lucky eight will immerse themselves in New York City’s jazz culture by taking in as much music as their 11-day trip will allow.

Fall term has ended at Carleton College, and students have gone home, leaving their professors to grade those final exams. What kinds of scores can they expect? According to Carleton professor Mija Van Der Wege and Leslie Barry ’05, the results will depend in part on where the tests were taken.

Carleton writing students were challenged this fall by two visiting teachers—Dennis Cass ’90 and Willy Stern. Both instructors brought their dynamic style and professional writing experience to the classroom, Stern as Anderson Visiting Scholar in American studies and Cass as a visiting instructor in English.

When classes ended last June, most college students closed their books and looked forward to some good old-fashioned R&R. Not so Carleton economics major Eric Udelhofen ’07 (Denver, Colo.). For him, it was off to the mountains and time to implement a project he had been working on all term.

Carleton graduates are known to attend graduate and professional schools at high rates, but what about snagging those entry-level business jobs? In an effort to increase students’ knowledge of these careers, Carleton is launching the Carleton Business Scholars Program this winter.

With Election Day less than a week away, the campus is humming with activity. Many Carleton students are making phone calls, talking to classmates, and attending political debates and rallies. Others are registering voters and working with the DFL Party’s Youth Coordinated Campaign (YCC) as dorm and floor captains. But a special few are so passionate about politics they have thrown themselves into working directly for campaigns.

“I’ve got the 21st century breathing down my neck.” That's the title of just one section of the blog documenting Carleton’s newest study abroad program, the Cinema and Media Studies department’s New Media Studies in New York, London, Amsterdam, and Berlin. The blog illustrates that this sentiment certainly rings true for the 22 students taking part in this ground-breaking trip.

“Always understand before you want to be understood.” “Always make people feel they are welcome to your world.”

Growing up in an Indian family in Singapore, Raj Sethuraju heard these phrases constantly from his father, and learned those values by heart. Now, as Carleton’s new director of the Office of Intercultural Life, Sethuraju has brought to the College his interest in creating dialogues and enhancing diversity.

Remember the days of bulging wallets full of plastic, with one card for this function and another card for that? Of riffling through a colorful collection to grab just the right form of identification or payment? The class of 2010 won’t. This fall Carleton implemented an innovative new program, condensing campus ID, dorm access, meal plans, laundry cards, and library privileges into a single card—aptly named the OneCard.

Many Carleton students spend their summers as interns, but Zoe Schwartz ’08 (New York, New York) may have had one of the most fast-paced internships. She got her taste of the real world last summer working as a production assistant for the ABC news show “20/20” in New York.